Manchester United played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with Bournemouth in the Premier League on Monday night.
Ruben Amorim applauds on the pitch.
Ruben Amorim has been praised by Gary Neville for showing true attacking intent.
View Image
Manchester United great Gary Neville has praised head coach Ruben Amorim for "doing the right thing" during their thrilling 4-4 draw with Bournemouth at Old Trafford.
Goals from Amad and Casemiro put United into a 2-1 lead heading into the half-time break, but the momentum swung one way and then the other during the second period. Shortly after the restart, goals from Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier put the Cherries in front.
However, two goals in two minutes from Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha once again turned the game in United's favour. The drama wasn't over there, with Eli Junior Kroupi making it 4-4 in the 84th minute.
Both teams had to settle for a point. But the match was a thrilling encounter for fans and neutrals alike.
That's something that Neville has praised both teams for. He also pointed out an in-game change made by head coach Amorim that contributed to that feeling.
"It was a stunning watch - more for a neutral maybe, but even for me," he said on The Gary Neville podcast. "I was really critical after the Everton and West Ham games because of just the nature of the performance - I thought it was really bland, the Everton one where obviously he kept three at the back and against one - they were down to 10 men; there was no urgency, they weren't throwing the kitchen sink at it. Same against West Ham, they let large parts of the game drift.
"It was the complete and utter opposite tonight, I can live with that all day long in terms of the performance and the standard because they played with real intent. Played the ball forwards, always played at full pace.
"We'll come onto the mistakes shortly, but I just feel that the way in which, also when United went 3-2 down, and Ruben Amorim then went to 4-4-2 and did the right thing. Forget the system, he did the right thing and he got the right players on the pitch and looked a massive threat.
"But credit to Bournemouth. In the first half, I thought they were overrun by United, I thought they were going to be out of the game, that it would probably be two or 3-0. But if you don't kill teams off - I think you said in the first half United had more shots than any other team this season recorded in the Premier League, which demonstrated their dominance.
"But still, Bournemouth had one or two good moments, as well, get their goal and are still in it at half-time. Jamie Carragher's words just coming out before the second half that Ruben Amorim will be thinking 'we should be further ahead in this game' - that's true.
"The second half was absolute mayhem. Absolute mayhem. But just generally in terms of sort of the fans would feel the same thing. There were boos after the Everton and West Ham game, there weren't boos after this game.
"There was disappointment, but there were a lot of fans we've just seen stay in the stadium to clap the team because they can live with that. If you're a kid coming to United - my two girls have come tonight - and they'll be thrilled walking back across that forecourt. They won't be happy United haven't won, but they'll have seen a great game of football, and that's what you come to Old Trafford for; you come for entertainment, of course you come to see your team win - I get it, you've got to win games, you've got to win trophies and titles, we can turn to this is sort of not good enough in respect to what happened.
"But they've got the entertainment bit right, their performance right, the style right. It's absolutely critical at this football club and I've enjoyed what I've seen tonight from those red shirts."
One down side, though, from their performance was the defensive frailty on show from United. When scoring four times and not coming away with all three points, eyes may turn to the back line, but it's not something unexpected for Neville given the players available.
He added: "Defensively, I think it's to be expected. When you think that - Martinez came on, but De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez not playing, and obviously you've got a couple of younger defenders. It doesn't look like a defence that's going to keep clean sheets and keep teams out, it just doesn't look like that.
"So you think that before the game already they're probably going to score. I think I said just after half-time, they'll probably have to score four to win this game - and four wasn't enough, it needed to be five! Because both teams looked really vulnerable at the back and it was probably expected from United, obviously Bournemouth have been going through a rough patch.
"But I enjoyed the game so much, I can live watching those types of matches all the time. I can't stand 0-0's. They happen sometimes and they're a struggle and you respect, sort of, defensive solidity. But it can't have bland, letting games drift where teams are passing along the back - that was a proper game of football and I really enjoyed it."